Troad

The Troad, also known as Troas, is a historical region of northwestern Asia Minor, now known as the Biga Peninsula in Turkey. The Trojan kingdom was founded by immigrants from the Balkans around 1900 BC, and its center was the legendary city of Troy. The kingdom was well-known to the Hittites under the name of "Wilusa". Trojan kings long sought to avoid open conflicts with the Hittite Empire and the kingdom of Arzawa, preferring to maintain their neutrality and foster trade relations with both of the Anatolian powers. This policy allowed the kingdom to develop and became a regional center which controlled many important trade routes; Troy subsequently became the richest city of north-western Anatolia. In 1240 BC, Troy was sacked and destroyed after the ten-year Trojan War with the Achaean Greeks, leading to the region's decline. Soon, Greek settlers formed cities in the Troad, and it was a part of the Phrygian satrapy of Achaemenid Persia until its conquest by Alexander the Great in 334 BC. It then passed to the Seleucids and then to Pergamon, which was annexed by the Roman Republic in 133 BC. It became a part of Roman Asia, and, during the 1st century AD, Paul the Apostle and Saint Timothy visited the Troad during their journey from Galatia to Roman Macedonia. The Ottoman Turks later conquered the region and added it to its Sanjak of Biga, and it is now part of Turkey.